One of the byproducts of fuel combustion in an internal combustion engine is carbon particles, which are typically referred to as soot. Emission standards will typically specify a limit to the amount of soot that an engine can emit to the environment, which limit will be below the level of soot generated by the engine during operation. Therefore, various components and systems are employed by engine or vehicle manufacturers that control and limit the amount of soot emitted to the environment.
One device commonly used to limit the amount of soot expelled into the environment from an engine is referred to as a particulate trap. Such a device includes a porous substrate, for example, made of ceramic material, which may be coated with various chemical compounds that alter the composition of exhaust constituents. The porosity of the substrate acts as a filter for physically trapping carbon particles or soot in an exhaust stream passing over and/or through the filter. One can appreciate that such physical removal of carbon particles from a gas stream will progressively saturate the filter with particulate matter.
One method of restoring the performance of a particulate trap becoming saturated with soot is by a process called regeneration. Regeneration involves the oxidation or burning of accumulated particulate matter in a filter. Such oxidation may include the introduction of a combustible agent, such as fuel, onto the particulate matter to aid in the combustion. Moreover, regeneration of particulate traps often includes an elevation of the temperature of the particulate matter, for example, by elevating the temperature of the exhaust gas stream passing therethrough, prior to combustion.
Conventional regeneration controls and methods typically require the operator to manually initiate the regeneration mode. These known systems may provide an indicator or rely on operator knowledge to determine when the filter trap requires regeneration. Such manual controls, however, may be overly cumbersome to use, may require the operator to actively initiate the regeneration process, and may be implemented incorrectly by less experienced operators.